Super Bowl Predictions 2012: Predicting Potential MVP Candidates

One thing we know about that Super Bowl MVP is that it’s not open to all players.

More often than not it’s a quarterback. If it’s not a QB, then it’s a wide receiver. The Super Bowl winner tends to be able to throw the ball with abandon.

It’s been nine years since any position other than a quarterback or receiver won the award. Running backs may be vital to the Super Bowl winner, but you wouldn’t know it by Super Bowl MVP winners, only seven of which have been ball carriers.

Taking all that into consideration, here are our pre-championship games picks for the Super Bowl MVP:

7. Alex Smith, QB, 49ers

Could there be a more unlikely storyline for this season than for San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith to go from outcast in the city by the bay to the MVP?

The 49ers are all about defense, but Smith, the former No. 1 draft pick, has been vital to the 49ers’ success as San Francisco has ended a long string of unproductive seasons by getting to the NFC Championship Game as host.

Is Smith an elite quarterback? No. But for one game, he could get it done. After all, he did last week.

6. Wes Welker, WR, Patriots

Much has been made about the way tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez have made the New England receiving corps tougher to handle than any other.

In the end, however, it was Welker who finished first in the NFL with 122 receptions and second in receiving yards with 1,569.

And it could be Welker’s day in the sun come Super Bowl Sunday. Tom Brady’s favorite target could become America’s favorite.

5. Joe Flacco, QB, Ravens

If Alex Smith wasn’t at the helm of the 49ers, then the Baltimore Ravens would have the most overlooked quarterback still alive in Joe Flacco.

And in many ways, Flacco has as much to prove as Smith.

For as much winning as the Ravens have done with Flacco at the helm, this would be his first time in the Super Bowl, and what better time to seize the day on center stage?

4. Victor Cruz, WR, Giants

If there is a rags-to-riches story better than that of the New York Giants’ Victor Cruz, it doesn’t come readily to mind.

As a rookie in 2010, he played in three games without a catch before spending the final 13 games on injured reserve.

He began this season as the Giants’ No. 4 receiver and ended it as one of just three players with 1,500 yards receiving and with the most yardage per catch of any receiver with 1,000 or more yards (18.7).

Who better than the Giants’ big play threat to turn in the big plays worthy of a Super Bowl MVP?

3. Tom Brady, QB, Patriots

New England quarterback Tom Brady has been down this road before.

He’s already won the Super Bowl MVP twice, in 2002 and 2004, and he helped Patriots’ wide receiver Deion Branch win the award in 2005.

Of all the players who could win the award this time around, none has the experience and the cool, calm and collected demeanor to match that of Brady.

2. Eli Manning, QB, Giants.

The 2008 Super Bowl MVP, New York’s Eli Manning directs an offense that is as explosive as any still alive.

At some level, Eli is still Peyton Manning’s brother and Archie Manning’s son. A second Super Bowl MVP could change that. Archie never won the award, and Peyton has done it once.

So this would be Eli’s time to shine.

1. Frank Gore, RB, 49ers

Yeah, we know that no running back has won the award since Terrell Davis did it for the Denver Broncos in 1998.

Even so, none of the four teams left in the competition relies on its running back as much as San Francisco does on Gore.

For years he was close to being their only offense as the 49ers finished out of the money year after year. Now that he has other weapons around him, he’s still the heart of the team.

And he’s in position for a huge game on the hugest stage.